voice control

Amazon's strangest product is about to connect to one of the most out-of-nowhere devices in the smart home today. Amazon Echo is said by sources close to the subject (who wish to remain anonymous) to be working with smart thermostats soon. This means that users will be able to ask Amazon Echo's smart assistant system Alexa to turn of their heat or turn the temperature cooler, for starters. After that, the smart temperature is the limit - all you need to do is ask.

Volvo has announced that starting this spring, Microsoft Band 2 owners will be able to use the wearable to control their vehicle with just their voice. No, you won't be able to tell your new XC90 to swing around the block and pick you up, but you will be able to remotely unlock the doors, turn on the heater, set navigation, honk the horn, and flash the headlights.

Nuance, the software company behind the Dragon dictation app, has announced a new platform dubbed Nuance Mix, which will allow developers to add language detection and voice control to their own apps, in addition to smart home and Internet of Things (IoT)-connected devices. In terms of our smartphones, Nuance Mix, which is launching today as a beta, could bring voice control to a number of third-party apps, making it available beyond platform-specific tasks like placing a call, searching for directions, or dictating a message.

It was less than a month ago that Microsoft put out the request for those interested in beta testing Cortana for iPhone, and now those lucky enough to be selected are getting notified to download the voice-powered digital assistant. While designed to compete with Apple's own Siri, as well as Google Now, Microsoft's Cortana will be fairly limited on the iPhone in terms of capability, at least compared to the native Windows version.

With Black Friday quickly approaching in the US, and thus the onslaught of the holiday shopping season, Amazon has just announced that its Echo, the internet-connected speaker and digital assistant, is making a formal move from the online marketplace to the physical retail environment. Amazon says that in the near future over 3,000 stores will begin selling the Echo, including Home Depot, Staples, Sears, BJ’s, P.C. Richard & Son, Brookstone, RadioShack, and Fred Meyer locations.

With Apple's release of iOS 9 earlier this year, Siri was given the ability to answer and take action on more requests from users, such showing photos from a specific time and place, or search through email content. However, iOS users this week have discovered one thing that the virtual assistant won't answer unless a condition is met: questions about top songs from past or present music charts.

Google, Apple, and Microsoft have worked hard to implement hands-free features when it comes to safely using their smartphones while behind the wheel, allowing drivers to keep their eyes on the road. While these settings are certainly better than physically holding and interacting with a phone while driving, it turns out they're not quite as safe as we all thought. A new study from the University of Utah and AAA (American Automobile Association) has found that voice commands can still be very distracting.

Cry out "OK Google!" as much as you like: your Chrome browser on the desktop is no longer listening. Google has released a new version of its web browser for Windows, Mac, and Linux, and in addition to a number of security fixes and other tweaks, the big difference is a deleted feature rather than an added one.

This week Pebble has brought Nuance Voice Recognition to Pebble Time, Time Steel, and Time Round users. Nuance is powering Pebble's new Dictation API, allowing developers to create voice-friendly apps of all sorts for all of the 2nd-gen Pebble users in the wild. Pebble apps will be able to work with voice recognition and push all manner of commands to apps that do many fine things, like control your smart house and flying your drones around the countryside.

Nucleus (the name of both the company and the product) is a new device that aims to combine the best of video calling and home intercoms with voice commands. The mini tablet can be mounted to wall or just placed on a counter or table, and be used to connect and communicate with others in just seconds, bypassing even the steps that FaceTime and Skype users must go through before getting into a call.

Perhaps in preparation for full smart home utilization, Google has begun allowing offline voice commands on Android devices. This feature is only available for Android smartphones and tablets using the official Google (search) app, and commands are relatively limited. This feature will appear when a user has the Google app open without internet connectivity, showing a number of commands available offline. Lucky you, one intrepid Android user happened to be speaking to his device while it wasn't connected to the web.

Amazon has just released a software update for its internet-connected, voice assistant-powered Echo speaker that brings several new options to the list of voice commands it can follow. Probably the most impressive is the ability for it to read news headlines when asked, but the update also includes improved controls for smart home set ups, along with in-depth settings for alarms and timers. The new software version is available now to Echo users.